Me and you... heart to heart... right now.

As stated in my previous blog: I am not one to show my emotions unless I am completely comfortable. The people around me either have to be my family, or I have to be able to trust them very much. Once in a comfortable situation I am completely free and willing to show any emotion without filtering.

The only emotion I DO let out in public is anger. I have a very bad temper and I am easily annoyed. Unfortunately, when I am either of the two it becomes very noticeable to those around me. I get silent, snippy, sarcastic, and pretty much unpleasant to be around… I assume.

There are many things that can bring an emotion out from me, but the strongest is anything having to do with my family; pictures or anything that reminds me, of my nephews and nieces especially. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbtGjZw3aOGER&emid=sharshar&linkid=link2

On that URL you will find pictures from my niece’s, Isabella Marie, christening. Pretty much my whole family is there, except for my oldest brother, his wife, son and two daughters (I love them too). Now, all these pictures really stir me up. They make me feel proud to have such a family, honored that they are my family, happy to be there with all them, pissed off remembering the time my brother pulled off my bathing suit when I was a kid and hung it on a tree branch when I was too short and fat to reach it. But all these things make us a family, and these pictures, and more remind me of that.

Fortunately there is also pictures of my girlfriend, Michele, in there as well (rhyme not intended). She is another person that when I see a picture, or anything, that has her in it, or reminds me of her, I feel overwhelmed. I will spare you all the gushy details because I think I through some in on my last blog. In fact sometimes when I open my wallet and see the picture of her I will lose track of thought or “stop in my tracks,” literally. So if you really want to hear the lovey-dovey stuff… read some of my last post. She is actually one of the main reasons why I am getting better at emoting. She is slowly but surely showing me how better things can come by opening up to people, rather than being on the defense. I thank her for that all the time.

I think I am a passionate person, but like I said, I choose to show it to certain people. I don’t really like wearing my emotions out on my sleeve, and feel better by saving the strong emotions for those, in my mind, will appreciate them more.

Success

Success is happiness. My opinion of what success is has been instilled in my brain from my family. I have learned that everything happens for a reason and there is one common goal that everyone in the world shares and that goal is happiness. Though I have heard many variations of what happiness is, and I’m sure there are just as much, if not more, when it comes to success, but I feel that stripped down to the basic idea of success, you will find the strive to be happy.
The dictionary definition of Success according to Webster’s Dictionary is: “An event that accomplishes its intended purpose.” Anyone who reaches their desired outcome of a goal will inevitably be happy. Therefore, I think happiness and success are somewhat synonymous. Since I was a child I can remember my parents telling my siblings and me that as long as we are happy we will be successful, and I can not think of a better way to live my life. I re-think situations and scenarios and plan for prolonged gratification and think to myself “this will make me happy,” and that secures my future success.
When I asked my roommate what his idea of success is he answered, “A family that loves you,” which to me is incredibly true, but to others might not be in the cards for their future.
Albert Schweitzer said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” That quote perfectly explains my point. Don’t strive to be successful to be happy, fight to be happy and then you will be successful. Joe Love, of Home magazine said, “Whatever it is in life that you want, you must begin today to become a "positive thinker." Once you do this your future success will be unlimited.” If you are happy and positive about your life, that is all the success you need.
I have recently come into a relationship with someone I have been friends with for a long time. It wasn’t until then I started thinking about the goals of my future. I have found a new key to my happiness. For a while I was only doing what would make me happy, and concentrating on how things would affect my life. But since this person came into my life I have found that her happiness can make me happy as well. I do things that will make her happy, and that in turn makes me infinitely happier than I thought I could be. I was talking to a close friend of mine who works at a soup kitchen, and does much for the homeless, and she said “the key to happiness is helping others,” and I said that depends on what kind of person you are. If you are the kind of person that is happy making other people happy, then of course you will succeed. I discovered that the key is finding that someone whose happiness is more important than your own, and make sure that person feels the same. There are many different ways, in many different languages; you could define success, but in my life it is as simple as saying, “Success is Happiness”.